Peter Fury has warned heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte 27-1 (18) he will need to be in peak condition when he meets Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin 35-2-1 (24) at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England on May 2.
Fury, who trained his son Hughie Fury 23-3 (13) for his unanimous decision loss to Povetkin at London’s O2 Arena in August last year, says he would prepare Whyte the same way if he was coaching him.
“I gave Hughie the same instruction I would say for Dillian Whyte,” Fury told Sky Sports. “This guy faded after the mid-rounds, which he did, but Hughie couldn’t turn it up.
“Hughie did the same thing from round one to round six or seven, then you saw Hughie get tired, because he’s not mixing it, he’s doing the same thing.
“You can’t win world-level fights with the jab and moving around the outside. You need more than that.”
Whyte has admitted he wasn’t in the best physical shape for his 10-round unanimous decision win over Mariusz Wach in December, with Fury saying the 31-year-old Brixton Body Snatcher will need to be better prepared for Povetkin.
“Povetkin is a big puncher as well, he can hit,” said Fury. “I think when Dillian is super fit, he paces his rounds well. Povetkin might have a little bit of a head start, but Dillian Whyte has got a good jab, he’s come on a lot.
“You can’t take Povetkin lightly, he can punch. It will be an interesting fight, but Dillian Whyte needs to be in top shape for that fight, because if he comes in the shape he was against Wach, he’ll have a problem.
“But everyone has fights like that and I think that’s done Dillian Whyte good as well, because he knows he’s got to be in top shape every time. He can’t take any of these guys not deadly serious.”
Fury’s nephew Tyson Fury 30-0-1 (21) claimed the WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round stoppage of Deontay Wilder last months, with Whyte the mandatory contender for the belt.
The Mexican sanctioning body recently ruled that Whyte must wait until February 2021 for his long-overdue world title shot, but Fury says he has earned it.
“Yeah, more than anybody out there,” he said. “He’s come up the hard way, he’s took some good opponents on as well. He fully deserves maximum respect. I think he’ll come through Povetkin and he’ll get his world title shot.”
 he will need to be in peak condition when he meets Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin 35-2-1 (24) at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England on May 2.){kind=link}